Which paint to use for restoring a Weber gas grill?

[JoshM]

Hi, first time posting here though I've really appreciated some of the information I've gotten from this forum. Big thanks to PaulD for compiling the restoration guide, and to Chris Allingham for his video on YouTube for repairing a control valve! I just finished cleaning and greasing a stuck control valve from a Spirit E-310!

I'm in the process of restoring two Weber Spirit grills - an E-310 from 2015 and an E-320 from 2013, both found on the side of the road. Both have some amount of rust on the sheet metal frame, and I was planning to remove loose rust and paint these areas to prevent further corrosion. I picked up a can of Rust-Oleum High Heat Satin finish, but then learned that it requires high temperature curing (450 degrees for an hour). I called Rust-Oleum to confirm that and the guy told me to get the Rust-Oleum High Heat Ultra instead, saying it doesn't require curing. But online, I see indications that it does require curing (see Home Depot's question and answer section with responses from Rust-Oleum).

So I'm kind of confused - most of the frame will not get above the 200 degrees that regular Rust-Oleum spray paint can tolerate, and thus will never fully cure. But the top corners of the frame where the firebox rests will certainly get hotter than that. I saw recommendations for the Ultra on this forum, but also recommendations saying Ultra for the parts that touch the firebox and Rust-Oleum 2X (not heat resistant) for the rest, but of course in this case the sheet metal frame is all once piece.

I've included some photos of the rust I'm repairing. Thanks in advance for any help! This will definitely not be my last post here

 

[Bruce]

I have used high heat rustoleum ultra and the regular flat black. If it requires high heat curing, I am unaware of that. I do a burn in on my rehab grills anyway, but i don't do it for paint curing as much as just a test and overall burn in.

The instructions do not say anything about the paint requiring a high heat curing process. It just states that it may emit smoke for a short time upon first heat.

I think you have some mis-information.

 

[JoshM]

The instructions do not say anything about the paint requiring a high heat curing process. It just states that it may emit smoke for a short time upon first heat.

I think you have some mis-information.

I was also very surprised it's not noted on the can or downloadable instructions, but if you go to the Home Depot site for the non-Ultra high heat and search the Q&A for "cure" you'll see replies by Rust-Oleum's reps saying "To achieve a full cure with the coating, the coating must be heat cured at 450°F for one hour" (source). I called Rust-Oleum support and they confirmed this, saying if I don't heat cure it the coating won't last. For Ultra the Q&A responses by Rust-Oleum are inconsistent, saying in one place it must be above 200 degrees to cure, another answer saying 400 degrees, and the phone guy saying no cure necessary (source). Hence my confusion. If folks are using High Heat Ultra without curing and it's working well I may give that a go.

 

[Kyle in Woodstock]

If you are just painting the lower metal cabinets you do not need to use high heat paint.

This is what I use on those cabinets

Rust-Oleum 12 oz. Farm Equipment Massey Ferguson Gray Enamel Spray Paint (6-Pack) 280133 - The Home Depot

Rust-Oleum 12 oz. Farm and Implement Massey Ferguson Gray Spray (Case of 6) use to touch up your equipment. This oil-based paint helps prevent rusting on metal machinery such as tractors, trailers, farm

www.homedepot.com

Are you fixing these up to keep? Or to resell? If reselling, don't put too much work into that Spirit grill, likely won't be worth the effort.

 

[J Grotz]

I was also very surprised it's not noted on the can or downloadable instructions, but if you go to the Home Depot site

Don't listen to HD. Always listen to the manufacturer.

 

[JoshM]

It seems like I'd need heat protection on the very top edges since those contact the firebox, right?

Are you fixing these up to keep? Or to resell?

I'm fixing up the E-310 as a gift to a friend, so I'd like to do a decent job. I might end up keeping the E-320, TBD.

 

[JoshM]

Don't listen to HD. Always listen to the manufacturer.

The manufacturer posted the responses to the questions on the HD site, hence my confusion . HD doesn't say anything about curing in their own details, but those details are generally all provided by manufacturers anyways.

 

[DennisL]

I have a stainless steel Summit S-670 LP. It's 11 years old and I wouldn't mind a new look
and there is rust below the cook box on various panels.

I'm not sure I understand what the big deal is about curing. I baked a sourdough bread on the barbecue the other day and got up to 600 Degrees and I kept it back down to 500 for at least an hour and 40 minutes between preheat and baking. So just do it. Some parts won't get hot so they won't need the curing and how would you do it anyway if it's not getting hot? Are you painting on raw stainless steel? Maybe you need a primer.

 

[JoshM]

I'm not sure I understand what the big deal is about curing. I baked a sourdough bread on the barbecue the other day and got up to 600 Degrees and I kept it back down to 500 for at least an hour and 40 minutes between preheat and baking. So just do it. Some parts won't get hot so they won't need the curing and how would you do it anyway if it's not getting hot?

My understanding is that curing hardens the paint so it won't chip or bubble over time. Most spray paints don't require curing at all, but their high heat ones do. I can heat up the grill, no problem, but the majority of the frame will never get hot enough to cure, so the paint won't harden as well on those parts and could be damaged during subsequent use. But I'm getting the feeling plenty of people use these paints without ever curing them.

 

[Bruce]

I can't imagine that if the directions on the can don't call for it, it would be a necessary step. IMO, the first time you fire it up will cure it.

 

[DennisL]

My understanding is that curing hardens the paint so it won't chip or bubble over time. Most spray paints don't require curing at all, but their high heat ones do. I can heat up the grill, no problem, but the majority of the frame will never get hot enough to cure, so the paint won't harden as well on those parts and could be damaged during subsequent use. But I'm getting the feeling plenty of people use these paints without ever curing them.

can we assume that if it doesn't get hot during the curing, it will never really be hot enough to be damaged by regular use. Or, are you saying, it needs to be cured even if it's just sitting out in the hot sun for the finish to stay hard look great? Only way you could cure those parts just literally take them off and put them in a a big pizza oven or in a large kiln. Even if you made a tent around it I don't know that that would get hun enough to cure anything.

 

[Bruce]

I have done probably 100 grills with that stuff and never officially cured one of them. No complaints from any of my customers either.

 

[Kyle in Woodstock]

I stuck the sides of a lid in the oven one time to cure it.... nothing went wrong, but I won't do it again. Just assemble the grill back together and run it on high for 30 min and you are good.

 

[JoshM]

I got in touch with Rust-Oleum via email, and they haven't been very helpful. I explained that I bought the High Heat paint (not Ultra), and said "I saw online that this requires a heat cure - what happens if I don't heat cure the portions that aren't exposed to high heat?"

Their first response said:

For the high heat that area after an hour would need to be heated to 450 for an hour for the product to cure/dry.

So I replied and asked, "Does the High Heat ULTRA (semi-gloss) require the same heat curing as the High Heat (satin) paint? What happens if I apply this and never heat it to a temperature that cures it - will it still work?"

Their second response said:

The same cure process is for both aerosols the Specialty High Heat and the High Heat Ultra.

So I think they're saying both of their high heat paints require curing. But despite asking both times what happens if I don't cure or heat a painted surface I got no answer. I also reviewed the documents and instructions on their site - except their automotive products there's nothing there stating that curing is required. I'm wondering if maybe you have to cure the parts that will be exposed to heat, but not worry about curing parts that won't get hot?

I think I'm going to go ahead and buy the Ultra and just assume it's fine without curing.

 

[Bruce]

 

[Andrew F]

I use the high heat paint all the time on stuff that doesn't get hot, and some that does. I've never "cured" any of it. Seems to work fine. Including a cafe table and chairs (both metal) that sit on my deck 24/7. They hold up fine with no chipping.

 

[Kyle in Woodstock]

I got in touch with Rust-Oleum via email, and they haven't been very helpful. I explained that I bought the High Heat paint (not Ultra), and said "I saw online that this requires a heat cure - what happens if I don't heat cure the portions that aren't exposed to high heat?"

Their first response said:


So I replied and asked, "Does the High Heat ULTRA (semi-gloss) require the same heat curing as the High Heat (satin) paint? What happens if I apply this and never heat it to a temperature that cures it - will it still work?"

Their second response said:


So I think they're saying both of their high heat paints require curing. But despite asking both times what happens if I don't cure or heat a painted surface I got no answer. I also reviewed the documents and instructions on their site - except their automotive products there's nothing there stating that curing is required. I'm wondering if maybe you have to cure the parts that will be exposed to heat, but not worry about curing parts that won't get hot?

I think I'm going to go ahead and buy the Ultra and just assume it's fine without curing.

I think you might be over-thinking this. Don't worry about curing, you'll be fine. Worst case is the paint bubbles, then you just grind/sand the old paint off and start again.

 

[Bruce]

Bottom line on this. I would think that this stuff has been in production long enough that if curing did anything for the durability of the paint, the company would have listed that on the instructions by now. I know many other high temps paints do so. But it isn't like Rustoleum is some flash in the pan company that is just throwing a product out on the market willy nilly. Forgetting to list curing in the instructions if it was necessary is not something that would be overlooked for the last ten years plus that this same paint has been on the market.
Spray it, wait 24 hours and enjoy.

 

[Rick_Neilly]

In the same vein as this thread: Must one always use a degreaser on the firebox and side lids before painting them with the rustoleum high heat? Are there alternatives to using the brake parts cleaner?

 

[Bruce]

Rick, not really. You need to prep them after you clean them out with whatever your choice of cleaning agents are. Even if you have your parts sand blasted, you would be well advised to prep them with a proper prep such as brake cleaner.